The Fallen Drakes are an Irish success story but their story is an international one. 2011 has seen the band burst onto the Irish music scene with sell out shows and coveted support slots for international superstars and a hit single to their names. We caught up with drummer Nabz Ali, and asked him about their amazing year. He tells us the Fallen Drakes story is a mix of luck, hard work, and tragedy.
How did
the Fallen Drakes form?
I was travelling America in 2009 with my twin brother Hyder (Bassist) and we met Brian (McGovern, Vocals & Gutar) in Memphis, we became friends straight away and over many drunken nights we made a pact to start playing together once we got home. Hyder and I came back to Ireland and Brian continued his travels to South America. About 4 months later he came back to Ireland and we stuck to the deal.
After a
few jams we all felt that we were onto something good. We decided we
needed another guitar to complete the sound and we put out an ad for
a Lead Guitarist. That ad was answered by Mickey Mac (Slovakian
native, Michal Bartolen) and the rest is history!
How did
the name come about?
After
rehearsals one night, we were watching Talladega Nights, and in the
movie Ricky Bobby and his team mate Cal do the 'Shake and bake' fist
bump! Our Guitarist Mickey thought they were saying 'Fallen
Drake'.... yet again the rest is history… But also, we recently
found out that The Fallen Drakes directly translated into Slovakian
is 'We love Alternative Irish Music Review"'.
Tell us a
bit about each member of the band?
Hyder
drinks Heineken and Captain Morgan/coke and is thoughtful and
quiet
Brian
drinks Heineken and Captain Morgan/coke and is humble and soft
spoken
Mickey
drinks Heineken and Jagermaister and likes cookery programs
And I
drink Heineken and Captain Morgan/Orange and I like long walks
on the beach
What's the
most rock n' roll thing a Fallen Drake has ever done?
We went
2 minutes over time while supporting Bon Jovi in the RDS
Arena....yeah....we are mental cases.
All the
ladies want to know. Are you guys attached?
One of
us is attached and three of us are actively seeking love and
affection.
Who are
your influences?
We all
listen to the widest range of music, so it is very hard to narrow it
down. Bands that we would consider that we sound like would be The
Killers, Snow Patrol, U2 and just anything that has a big current
rock sound! We look
up to young, up and coming bands like Two Door Cinema Club and
Temper Trap as they have achieved a lot in the last couple of
years and they leave a good blue print for a band like us
who are still very much in its infancy.
You've
been likened to The Script. But how would you describe The Fallen
Drakes sound?
I think
we get likened to The Script because they are just so big right now
and in the public eye, it’s easy to compare a new Irish
rock/pop band to them. We take it as a compliment! But they have
a lot more R&B vibes in their music where we would have more
of a rock sound. I’d say that we have a current rock
sound that is meant to be played in large venues!
Would you
agree that The Fallen Drakes are - albeit unintentionally - a good
example of successful social integration?
Haha.
Great question! And yes of course! Brian is Irish born and bred!
Hyder & I are half Irish and half Iraqi and Mickey Mac is
Slovakian. We are like a multi-cultural experimental project! It
serves us well! We will have to do three homecoming gigs in Dublin,
Bratislava and Baghdad!
Has the
band experienced any racism?
Not at
all! We get more press from the music that we play, rather than our
heritage.
What has
the reaction been like in Slovakia?
Mickey
has been in bands for years over there, so everyone that knows him
are really proud that he has managed to set up shop in Ireland and is
making a big name for himself! He’s the local hero!
Have the
band any plans to tour in Slovakia?
Yes! We
actually had a mini tour set up straight after we released
the EP back in January, but then we got picked for the Today FM
Competition and started getting some serious attention here so the
timing didn't work out! But once we get our debut album released,
Slovakia is going getting Draked out of it!
You guys
have a knack of winning competitions. Have you won everyone you've
entered?
If we
enter a table quiz we will kick your ass! Ah no we wish! Quite
the opposite! The truth is we were completely shocked and
humbled that we won two huge National Unsigned Band
Competitions. We have been very lucky and we see it as
a sign that we have to keep working hard and doing what we
do! Somehow we have built up a solid fan base and they support
and help us in everything we do so we owe them a lot!
You
recently opened for The Commitments in the O2. Was it a surreal
experience?
It was
so surreal that the only way we remember it is to go to Youtube and
look at the videos people posted up. I think everybody dreams of
playing in a venue the size of the O2 arena. Once you are up there
its like an out of body experience, its over so fast, you can’t
describe the feeling! We have been to see so many of our favourite
bands in there and like every other musician, we would stand and
watch and only dream of being on that stage! Our mammy's and daddy's
were proud!
Were you
big fans of the movie and did you get to hang out with the band, if
so what were they like?
We were
huge fans of the movie! We can quote it all! Also we are big fans of
The Frames so it was a double treat for us to see Glen Hansard on
stage! They couldn't have been nicer! When we were sound checking, we
were nervous, very nervous. We went from 200 people in the twisted
pepper to 13,000 in one of Ireland's biggest venues! So the pressure
was on.
Glen Hansard and Andrew Strong came out as soon as we finished sound
checking, they shook our hands gave us a hug and a great prep
talk! The rest of the commitments were all great and every one of
them came over to us at some stage during the night to wish us all
the best!
How did it
feel walking out onto the stage at the RDS in front of thousands of
people?
SCARY!
It’s hard to prepare for that feeling! Such an overwhelming
experience. Luckily we had really warmed up before going on so we
were eager to get out there and try win over the crowd!
Are you on
a first name basis with Bon Jovi now?
Bonny?
Of course! Sure he was over in our gaff last week having
the craic, swapping hair styling ideas with Hyder. Sound as a pound
Tell us
about the songwriting process is it a collective or individual
endeavour?
We do
it collectively, someone comes up with an idea, a riff, a melody,
anything! Then we just work on it as a group until something remotely
good comes out! Then, Brian takes off in his car for a long drive
while he writes the lyrics. We have a good thing going and it’s
beneficial having four minds instead of just one when it comes to
song writing.
Are
you/the band prolific songwriters and who if anybody is in charge of
quality control?
We all
have equal say and input into the songs, I think we need all four of
us to have equal say or else the songs just wouldn't come out
the way we want it. We
argue and fight over it all the time, but at the end of the day it
stays in the rehearsal room and we know its a good thing to
argue and fight as we want to write the best music we can. We
haven’t even written an album yet, we are still learning, but
we are heading in the right direction! We all have our parts to play;
it wouldn't be The Fallen Drakes if one of us was missing! Team
Drake!
Are the
songs based on your personal experiences, pure imagination or a
mixture of both?
They
are pure imaginative experiences!
Is there a
girl from New York and does she like making love with the lights on?
Haha!
We thought all girls liked making love with the lights on? Yes? No? There
actually is a Girl from New York and that song is about a true story
that happened to one of us! But some things you just need to keep
personal!
Your debut
EP "Death of an Actress" has been critically acclaimed tell
us about recording it?
It’s
crazy to think it was only 6 months ago when we released it! In a
nutshell, we wanted to put some songs online, it was our first few
songs we had written! We wanted show people what we were doing,
and we didn't think much of it! We were
very lucky to cross paths with Ger Mcdonnell (worked with the likes
of U2, Kasabian & Manic Street Preachers) about a month
before we went in the studio!
To be
honest we didn't really know what a producer did before that! He
has wisdom beyond his years and meeting him definitely was a turning
point in our career. He simply knows exactly what he’s
doing. He gave
us that bigger sound and he can hear things in songs only a man of
his experience and talent can foresee. The recording process taught
us so much.
Once
released we were taken aback by how well it was received and we sold
out our E.P. Launch in Dublin only a few weeks after releasing it! So
we are proud of that little E.P.!
How did
you come up with the title?
Maybe 6
months before Mickey moved to Ireland, his best friend’s girlfriend
had sadly passed away. He needed to leave Slovakia and start a
fresh and Mickey agreed to come over to Ireland with him. Before
she died she had intended to move to London to pursue an
acting career after she had finished college. The first night we met
Mickey he had told us this story about why he came over and
the name death of an actress somehow came about. We said we either
needed to write a song about it or name our first release after her.
So we did.
Which song
are you most proud of?
It has
to be the first song on our debut E.P. 'Masquerade'. That song was
the one that was chosen when we won both unsigned competitions!
It has served us well and I think we owe it to everyone and
ourselves to re-master and release it as a single at some stage!
Why should
someone part with their hard earned cash to attend a Fallen Drakes
concert?
Who
wouldn't want to see four sweaty men giving it socks on stage?
Well worth the fee. We give it everything, we are always getting
better and it’s an honest show with a tight set - we don't rely on
gimmicks or anything to make it a great show.
Whats next
for The Fallen Drakes?
Debut
Album! We need it, we have done so much and achieved a crazy amount
with the strength of one E.P. and one Single so it’s time that we
do a full album! We are
writing for the album as we speak & gigging regularly around
Ireland as well… We always have things going on, be it video blogs,
facebook competitions, shooting the breeze with bonny, you name it!
Come join us on Facebook for all the latest news!
Girl from
New York is available from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/girl-from-new-york-single/id447106271
Death of
an Actress E.P. can be streamed from The Fallen Drakes Facebook page
and also from Bandcamp: http://www.thefallendrakes.bandcamp.com/
